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Opinion: Developers' case for Bremner

Albertans are tough and resilient. In a province where commodity price swings have triggered multiple booms and busts, Albertans have shown time and again their ability to bounce back after taking a punch.

Three years after the latest oil price crash slammed Alberta’s energy sector, costing thousands of jobs, triggering a huge drop in investment and driving the economy into recession, activity levels are gradually rebounding as oil prices hover around the $50 US mark.

That’s the good news.

Unfortunately, there is another, less positive side to the story. Due to persistent opposition to pipelines and ongoing political and regulatory uncertainty, the outlook for Alberta’s main industry remains cloudy, even as billions of dollars are flowing into places like Texas.

The message? Political and regulatory uncertainty stifles investment, jobs, and growth. If you’re still reading this, you’re probably wondering by now what any of this has to do with Sherwood Park, the Bremner Priority Growth Area, or the real estate development industry.

Well, there is a connection, and it’s this: In March of 2016, after years of study, rigorous analysis, and heated debate, Strathcona County council finally approved Bremner as the county’s next urban growth node, by a decisive six-to-two vote.

For Cameron Developments and Qualico Communities, it was a very important day. After the county had invested millions of dollars and thousands of staff hours studying potential growth nodes, council saw fit to move forward with what it regarded as a compelling future vision for Bremner. Detailed planning could finally begin for a community that will one day house some 60,000 residents.

At least, that’s what we assumed.

But now, 19 months after that decisive vote, there is a renewed cloud of uncertainty over Bremner. Critics — some of whom are running for council in Monday’s municipal election — want the approval to be overturned, or at least, that Bremner’s development be slowed.

In our respectful view, if the effort to derail Bremner succeeds, it will seriously handicap Strathcona County’s long-term growth potential. Put simply, people need a place to live, especially in a fast-growing region like the Greater Edmonton Area, home to Canada’s fifth-largest urban population.

Worse, reneging on Bremner’s approval could tarnish Strathcona’s well-earned reputation as a secure and reliable place to invest. In short, it would create the same kind of lingering policy uncertainty that has damaged Alberta’s energy industry.

So why the opposition to Bremner? A key argument is that it will chew up much of the county’s best (Class 1 and Class 2) farm land. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bremner Plan Area contains 4.7 per cent of all Class 1 and Class 2 soil in Strathcona County, and just three per cent of all cropland in Strathcona County. On a province-wide basis, it’s a tiny fraction of one per cent of Alberta’s 24 million acres of crop land.

So, with or without Bremner, agriculture will continue to be a mainstay of Strathcona County’s economy for generations. We wouldn’t want it any other way. Agriculture is at the heart of Strathcona’s history and cultural fabric. That’s why council set aside over 50 per cent of the original Bremner Plan Area for continued agricultural use.

Another key criticism is that the development of Bremner and related infrastructure — such as roads, interchanges, water and sewer lines — will lead to big tax hikes for taxpayers. Again, untrue.

On the contrary, developers like Qualico and Cameron shoulder the bulk of development costs related to site preparation, new roads and other basic infrastructure. These costs are recouped over time through the sale of residential, commercial and industrial properties associated with the development. Growth pays for the cost of growth, and the development of Bremner will pay for the infrastructure to support it.

One other key point: Bremner is surrounded by other key county growth areas, including Cambrian, West of 21, and the expansion area on the south side of Highway 16, all of which could share services and related costs.

In the end, our goal is to attract people — and new businesses — to Strathcona County. Although Bremner’s critics have been persistent, we’re confident the citizens of Strathcona County are savvy enough to understand that uncertainty is not a sound basis for creating prosperity. Let’s get on with building the new community of Bremner.

This column was submitted by Laurie Scott, vice-president of Cameron Communities; and Brad Armstrong, vice-president of community development with Qualico Communities.